Spencer Cox: “Today, in San Francisco, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals is going to honor one of its most distinguished judges by…”

“Today, in San Francisco, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals is going to honor one of its most distinguished judges by hanging his portrait in historic Courtroom One in the courthouse on 7th Street in San Francisco. That jurist is Herbert Y.C. Choy. I am very privileged to have worked for him in my first job upon graduation from law school as his law clerk. Today, some 31 generations of Choy law clerks will honor him, along with Chief Judge Mary Schroeder of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals; Richard Clifton, the successor to Judge Choy in the Ninth Circuit courthouse in Honolulu; and also one of his law clerks, John McCuckin, who is now executive vice president of Union Bank, and many, many others from around the country who honor and treasure and respect Judge Choy and his wife, Helen. Judge Choy is the first Asian American ever appointed to the Federal bench. He is the first Asian American not only on an article 3 court, but on any court. He is the first Korean American to be appointed to the Federal bench, and he is the first Hawaiian ever to be appointed to serve representing the State of Hawaii on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Judge Choy is the son of immigrants who came to Hawaii, came to the United States from Korea, as part of a great wave to work on Hawaii's sugar plantations. The Hawaiians of Korean ancestry are celebrating their centennial of that great immigration wave this year.”